Backyard

Once again this winter I am thankful for our fenced-in yard. They spend more time out in the back in the winter than they do in the summer, and I am glad I don't have to go out with them!

Happy Helpers

I am usually the main snow shoveler of the family. And I really don't mind. I'd rather do it before it gets driven and walked all over, and make it so Jason doesn't have to go out in the dark after working all day to try and get the now packed-down snow up. But this winter I am pregnant and feeling every bit of extra exertion, so I am going to have to leave it to him this winter. But the other day when Ali and Logan heard I was going to wait and let their dad do it when he got home they said, "WE can do it!" and happily went out and shoveled most of it! Maybe kids getting older isn't all bad!

Crabby

Logan got it into his head that he really, really wanted a hermit crab. So we went to the pet store and saw that he would have to save his allowance for two months before he would be close to affording one. Smart boy that he is, he knew Ali had a bunch of money saved up with really no specific thing she was saving for, so he convinced her that SHE really wanted a hermit crab! And he must have been pretty convincing, because now we have a hermit crab named Crabby! Sadly, hermit crabs are nocturnal so he is not out much while the kids are awake, thus loosing much of his appeal. Jason brings his cage down every night to wherever he is spending his time, and so has enjoyed Crabby more than the kids...oh well.

Magic!

Logan is really enjoying his magic kit and hat that he got for Christmas. Pretty much every visitor gets a show, and some of the tricks are really quite amazing. But my favorite part is watching Logan perform! He is so cute and proud of himself!

Sliver Lining Grandma Visist

The only upside to JD and Lianna moving (and we're REALLY reaching to call any aspect of them leaving an upside...) is that Grandma Quillen came out to help them drive to Colorado. That meant we got to spend about five hours with her...not nearly long enough but I guess beggars can't be choosers.

More Moving

Though I am still totally in denial about it, my brother JD and his family moved to Colorado the first of the year. They only decided to leave about three weeks ago, so it was almost too fast for me to wrap my head around, and it still feels like they are just on vacation and will be back soon...but they're not. SO SAD! We will really miss them.

Feed My Starving Children

Logan has said to me a few times lately, "Mom, there are people in the world who don't have food! We need to get together some of our food to give to them!" And I always compliment him on his kind thoughts, but put him off by telling him we need to find the right way to go about giving people in need food. There is a place near us called Feed my Starving Children that is a nonprofit place that packages food especially prepared for people who are so malnourished that they need certain kinds of food, Jason has been a few times with our ward's youth, and I thought while he had some time off last month for Christmas it would be the perfect time for him to take Logan. So the two of them spent a couple of hours there one morning over break packaging food to help people in Ghana. Jason said Logan did his scooping for an hour straight with no complaints. We sure love our kindhearted Logan.